New leaves falling from Japanese Maple
thomas.holmes
Posts: 15
I bought an Acer Palmatum Bloodgood about month or so ago. It's been in the pot I bought it in for about a month, doing fine. When I finally came to plant it in my raised bed a few days ago, a few bright red laves fell off it as I was moving it to plant it. Since planting there have been maybe 2, 3 4 small leaves a day falling off which has got me a bit paranoid, even though that's a tiny amount really. I don't think it's to do with replanting it as it started before it was actually in the ground, so I think it's safe to rule that out.
It's always just bright crimson small leaves that are falling. The tree is about a metre tall with a good mass of healthy purple leaves, but these are quite dense and tangled (it'll be getting a good tidy up prune in the winter). On closer inspection, right in the middle of the foliage is a sort of burst of new leaves right in the centre that are bright red. These are quite delicate and my theory is that because they're trapped in the middle they're not getting enough light, so not turning the deep purple of the established leaves, then getting knocked off as the tree sways in the breeze as they're not very strong. Does this sound feasible? I'm hoping for some reassurance that this is nothing to worry about and the whole thing doesn't start losing healthy leaves, which I know can happen.
I should add that the leaves coming off are young, moist and very much alive, it's not a case of dead, curled up browning leaves dropping. And the darker coloured outer leaves feel quite secure.
Not easy to photograph, but this is what's going on in the middle mass, with a few bright red new leaves growing:
Here you can see the colour and condition of a fallen leaf against a healthy purple leaf:
It's always just bright crimson small leaves that are falling. The tree is about a metre tall with a good mass of healthy purple leaves, but these are quite dense and tangled (it'll be getting a good tidy up prune in the winter). On closer inspection, right in the middle of the foliage is a sort of burst of new leaves right in the centre that are bright red. These are quite delicate and my theory is that because they're trapped in the middle they're not getting enough light, so not turning the deep purple of the established leaves, then getting knocked off as the tree sways in the breeze as they're not very strong. Does this sound feasible? I'm hoping for some reassurance that this is nothing to worry about and the whole thing doesn't start losing healthy leaves, which I know can happen.
I should add that the leaves coming off are young, moist and very much alive, it's not a case of dead, curled up browning leaves dropping. And the darker coloured outer leaves feel quite secure.
Not easy to photograph, but this is what's going on in the middle mass, with a few bright red new leaves growing:
Here you can see the colour and condition of a fallen leaf against a healthy purple leaf:
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